So...whats for dinner?
Comments
-
Thanks chabba. It wouldn't be the end of the world if it died, as I have two other sources for it. But I've grown somewhat attached to it now and have the flavor right where I want it so am reluctant to start over.
0 -
Nancy,
Thanks for the update on the recipe.. I am definitely having Beef Barley Soup soon... DD can have a sandwich instead...lol!
Chabba,
Good to hear from you! My Dad had a bout of pancreatitis the summer of the year that I was diagnosed.. He is the strongest man I know and that pain reduced him to tears.... hugs to you for having to go through all that... and glad your starter made it through too!0 -
Bedo:
Even easier if you have power - I now poach salmon in the microwave. My personal preference is with dill weed, but you could shake any other seasonings you like over it.Directions from our newspaper some years ago.
Place the thicker portions toward the outside of the baking dish - skin side down.Add 1/4 cup wine or water. Cover w/wax paper. Microwave on high for 3-4 minutes per pound. To avoid over cooking, remove fish from microwave when the outer edges are opaque but the center is still slightly translucent. A few minutes of standing time will finish the cooking.
0 -
0 -
I saw Jim in Boston on the Weather Channel today. A friend's explanation of naming the storms is that it has something to do with home insurance. The insurance company doesn't have to pay for certain kinds of damage when the storm is named. Do not know whether this is accurate.
Dinner tonight was a tasty chicken noodle soup that dh cooked while I was at the dentist's office this afternoon. We ate it with my home-made Tuscan bread and butter.
I have been feeling "queasy" since Tues. and haven't been eating much. Haven't even had a cocktail or wine!
I will be happy to share the biga or starter that I made on Mon. to use on Tues. This is not sourdough starter. In making Italian artisan breads, you almost always use a starter in addition to the yeast in the recipe.
Starter for Pane Toscano Scuro (Dark Tuscan Bread)
1 tsp. active dry yeast, 2/3 cup warm water 1 1/3 cups (175 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour. Stir the yeast into the water and let stand until creamy, about 10 min. Add flour and stir with 100 strokes of a wooden spoon or with the paddle of a stand mixer for 1 min. (I use a stand mixer.) Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until tripled, 6 hrs. to overnight.
You can refrigeratore this starter for a week or so if you don't use it right away. You can also freeze it for later use. Just set it out on the counter and let it come to room temp. or thaw out and it will start to bubble.
In case you'd like to make the bread, here's the recipe. Very simple.
Ingredients: 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast, 1/3 cup warm water, 1 cup water at room temperature, 1 /4 cup (30 grams)unbleached all-purpose flour, 3 3/4 cups (475 grams) stone ground whole wheat flour. For lighter bread, use more all purpose and less whole wheat. Just keep the total measurements the same.
Stir the yeast into the warm water in the bowl of stand mixer. Let stand until creamy, about 10 min. Add the cup of room temperature water and the starter. Mix with the paddle to break up the starter. Or use your hand to break it up if you're not using a mixer. Stir in the flour two cups at a time, if working by hand. With the mixer, dump the flour in and stir with the paddle until the dough comes together. Change to the dough hook and knead until firm and elastic, 3 to 4 min. Finish kneading briefly by hand on floured work surface.
By hand you knead the dough on a floured work surface about 8 to 10 min. Place dough in oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. This dough is forgiving. You can let it rise longer than that if you get busy.
Turn dough out onto floured surface, flatten gently to expel air. Shape into one round loaf or two small oval loaves. Place on parchment paper on peel or baking sheet. Cover with dampened towels and let rise until doubled, 45 min to 1 hr.
Baking: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. If using a baking stone (I do), turn the oven on 30 min. before baking. Score the single round loaf with a tic-tac-toe patter with razon or sharp knife. I use a tomato knife. I made the two oval loaves and lightly scored them with several diagonal cuts. If using a peel, slide the loaf or loaves onto the baking stone. The parchment paper makes it easy to deposit the loaves. Bake 15 min. Reduce heat to 400 degrees and bake the smaller loaves 20 min and the large round loaf 25 to 30 min. I use an instand read thermometer to make sure the bread is 200 to 210 degrees. Cool on racks.
The first ten minutes of baking, spritz water onto the loaf or loaves 3 or 4 times.
Did you notice that there is no salt in this bread? Tuscan peasant bread is saltless because salt was too expensive for anyone except the wealthy to have on hand.
This recipe is from Carol Field's The Italian Baker. It's a very interesting book to read, full of bread-making history as well as recipes from the various regions of Italy. I bought my copy used on Amazon.
0 -
Carole: Yum. Thanks for the recipe. Most of the time I'd like to eat bread & butter and not bother about anything else. Not good for the weight tho.
0 -
Bedo, you've probably already poached your fish but a good method is to make a courtbouillon in a saute pan or skillet. Water, salt, pepper, onion, celery, carrots and garlic, if you like garlic. Simmer for 30 min. to let all the flavors release into the water. Then poach the fish in the courtbouillon.
You could use your own favorite herbs, spices and aromatic veggies to create a poaching liquid.
0 -
Carole: Forgot to say - hope your tummy is feeling better soon.
0 -
If I need to leave my sourdough starter for awhile, I'll feed it, let it sit out for a few hours until it gets bubbly, and then put it in the refrigerator. My starter is probably 15 years old and when it's refrigerated, it has gone a month between feedings.
Eric0 -
Carole thanks for that starter idea and bread recipe.
Bedo you got lots of good ideas for your salmon. I'll have to get on my computer and copy and paste a lot of this page.
DH and I went out to get our storm supplies late this afternoon....it could have been worse. I think the first alarmists had cleared through the stores last night, allowing us more intrepid folk some parking spaces today.
I recall buying this house near the center of this town in 1979 because our former house was close to stores in that town. We managed well through the blizzard of '78, so we kept that location strategy.....the streets get plowed well, and we can walk to anything we need. So we feel ready ....but possible 30 inches is a lot! We are obviously in trouble if Jim Cantore is here. However, as I said to DH tonight, there is always excitement when we anticipate a snow storm. Wish our little DGS lived closer so we could be playing in the snow like you will be Laurie. Have a ball!
It's fun to think that you will be waking up in Hawaiian paradise, Michelle.
We got some ground lamb and made grilled lamb burgers for dinner with all our favorite toppings. Yummy, and almost like a summer meal before diving into serious winter!
Stay safe all you East coasters0 -
Carole, does this bread look familiar to you? DH just came across it.
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/New-Orleans-French-Bread
Looks yummy!0 -
Eric Sounds like your starter is a very dear pet that you feed and have had for 15 years! ha ha You are a good provider.
I have a bread maker and stopped using it...gave it to my son actually...I love bread but really need to stay away from it to watch the calories.
Did some cheap chuck eye (steaks) meat last night with onions and mushrooms, mashed potatoes and green beans. Wasnt expecting much from this meat but they were on sale and wanted to use the leftovers for soup this weekend, but they were pretty good...should have not been so lazy though and used the grill. Husband said dinner was so good it deserved desert, so he had a bowl of ice cream...poor excuse for having ice cream.
0 -
Eric, that is exactly what I plan to do.
IMHO, one really doesn't need an excuse for ice cream ;-)0 -
My mother in law hates sourdough. She doesn't like any recipe that needs to be fed.......
Eric0 -
re: sourdough.
I have sorely mistreated my sourdough starter. It's been in a jar with the lid on, not refrigerated, literally for years. I suspect the good yeast will have died and it will have gone anaerobic. I'm afraid to open the jar for fear of releasing some foul stench! Is there any hope of reviving this or should I just toss it in the trash without opening it?
Those of you who have a starter, how did you get it started? Did you get a bit of live starter from someone, or catch a wild yeast?
0 -
Lol Nancy! I'm with you on the ice cream. In fact it was one of my 15 items or less that I bought during my storm preparations! Go figure....
I second curveball's question. How DO you start a starter?0 -
ok I am in awe of all of you that make bread. I am even more in awe of you because you feed it for years and keep it thriving and now about bacterial and yeast balances.
I have a pot roast going in the crock pot and it smells great in the house. We have had a very lazy and quiet day. There is only about an inch out there right now so not enough to play in. I might make a banana bread while we wait for it to accumulate.
0 -
I had a starter that was over 100 years old when I adopted it and had kept it healthy and happy for another 20 when my father-in-law came to spend the summer with us. One day while I was at work he decided to clean my fridge. He was so proud of himself, said he didn't know what that stinky stuff he found shoved in the back was but hhe flushed it away. Woman I'ld gotten it from had left town and I could find no source for a replacement.
So, I made my own. Mixed together a cup of water with enough flour to make a thick batter, about 2 or 3 cups. Added a scant 1/2 tsp bread yeast to get it going. I covered it with cheesecloth and stashed it on top of the fridge (nice, warm spot) for a week or so. Be sure your bowl is large enough for the starter to double or triple as it works.
0 -
I third that "starter" question as I am hunkered down, enjoying watching the storm and getting bored with the media coverage of it. I do hope everyone is warm and safe....worried about the homeless who refuse shelter help.
Got some chicken (breasts and thighs)simmering in a pot on the stove since I will use it to make soup as well as chicken chili with cannellini beans. Love that chili since it ends up with a shredded quality, which I prefer to ground chicken or turkey meat. I've got to figure out an organized actual recipe for this.....I keep just making it and not writing it down. Poor discipline!
A little story for a snowy day....symbolism...it relates to the out of control snow:
I just rec'd an email from our Western MA estate host who I offered to create a dinner for as a "thank you" for his generosity in having DH and me in a small group of people who stay at his home/art gallery a few times a year. OMG! I had asked one of the other board member's wives, who I got to know recently, if she wanted to join me in cooking for him and his girlfriend. She also likes to cook and was excited to do it, and when DH and I told our host that she and her DH would also join us, our host asked about whether we asked another couple who are also connected to the board. I felt I needed to say that we could open it up and he could let us know who he wanted to have as guests at his table, which my compatriot was also happy with.
OY! At the moment this dinner could involve 14 people, and our host has offered to have his house manager and housekeeper be our staff for procuring the food and implementing the event. Yikes!! What have I gotten us into!? I'm sure that it will end up fine, (I think it will....I think it will....I think it will...)...although very different from our original "thank you dinner" idea. I sure am glad that this event is not until September so my friend and I can figure this all out. Chuckling at the vicissitudes of life right now as I watch the snow fall.
Oh...and to add a comedic element, the man who will be taking us to procure food and helping implement the plan is the house steward who thought that my friend and I were sloshing down red wine all morning, (as we sat talking in the living room surrounded by empty and half-full wine bottles) and offered to open more bottles in case our DH's wanted to join us drinking after their meeting. He probably will figure he'll have to cook the meal himself given us "lush ladies" (who had been drinking coffee;).
I'm picturing the big smile you must have on your face Michelle as you basque in the sun on your Hawaiian beach!0 -
Thanks for the starter info, Chabba.
0 -
Mine was a, I guess, a wild yeast.
In the spring I put outside a cheese cloth covered large glass bowl with a cup of water and cup of flour mixture in it. Each day I checked it...if, after two or 3 days, it wasn't bubbly, I threw it out and started over. The 7th or 8th time I tried it, I got "something good".
I started playing with sourdough while I was still in college. In that case, I got the starter from my neighbors....an elderly couple from St. Louis. When moving, I left it in the car and killed it. Cars out here will hit 175F degrees in the summer...all attempts to revive it failed :-)
Eric0 -
0 -
Lacey, that French bread in the picture looks very familiar. I went through a phase when I made French bread. DH formed a baking pan for me out of aluminum. The pan held two long loaves. Not all bought French bread loaves are created equal. There's a bakery in NO (can't dredge up the name) that makes the best. Very crunchy. Mandina's restaurant on Canal St. uses this bread for their poboys and their oyster poboy is the best, IMHO. Also, their oyster artichoke soup is the best I've had. That's what dh and I order when we go to Mandina's, a cup of soup and s half-loaf oyster poboy. The whole poboy is much too large for one person.
I bought two carton's of Edy's Slow-Churned French Silk ice cream today since it was on sale. That's our favorite ice cream. French Silk pie is my favorite pie. We used to buy it at a restaurant bakery in Chicago area when we visited dh's parents, who are now deceased. We would buy the French Silk pie as our choice and a berry or fruit pie of some sort for the other family members who had stated that type of pie was their favorite. Guess which pie got eaten? Yep. The French Silk.
The Weather Channel does overdo coverage of weather events. I hope all of you in the NE stay safe and comfortable.
Lacey, I would have a nervous breakdown facing the prospect of serving dinner in that situation. Can't wait to hear all about it when the dinner takes place.
I'm still not feeling my best. Normally I would be working around the house this afternoon instead of sitting in my chair. If I'm not feeling good by next week, I'll go to see my PC dr.
0 -
My starter was given to me. It originates from a 100 year old "mother" by way of King Arthur flour.
0 -
HOLY CRAP Lacey!!!!! This is a new beast of a different color!! It will be ok if you plan, plan, plan!! Even still...wow!!
Carol- Hope you feel better. It can be quite frustrating and worrisom.
0 -
Laurie.......HC indeed!!! I am already starting up with some anxiety...but the rational part of me realizes that it can be done with proper planning...and, after all, when have I ever had "staff" to support the effort?!?!? Maybe I will stop being such a DIYer! LOL I did make the mistake of starting to watch an auditioning chef show where the applicants screwed up badly and that's when my heart started beating fast.....off went the TV!
Are others getting brutal winds......WOW! That makes it seem like so much more snow than there even is yet. Hard to imagine that this is just the start of this storm.
Carole, yes, that bread recipe is supposed to be the favored one used for the poboys. Your double loaf pan sounds a lot like the one I use for my faux french loaves....w/o any DH ingenuity. I bought it.
Feel better...hope some nice weather there helps you with that.
Was planning to make pizza tonight, but actually want to get the rest of the veggie lasagna out of fridge, so I will have room for the chicken meals I will make this weekend
( between shoveling efforts). DH is fine with that, so it's lasagna and salad again. How many of you have a second refrigerator. I am often wishing I had one lately, but maybe it would just "feed" into my making too much food!0 -
Hahaha, Deborye! That very angry looking Nemo cracked me up! Also loved your Stawm Coming one! I can just hear that Boston (or is it all of Massachusetts?) accent!
0 -
I liked the Nemo too. :-). I'm sitting in the airport in Las Vegas....It's crowded, both with business folks (me) wanting to get home and with folks that can't get back east.
I hope you quickly feel better Carol.
I'm on call this month for the disaster job. So far no phone calls raising telling us to get "more on call".
Stay safe everyone.
Eric0 -
That Nemo pic was clever and hysterical, Deb!
Seaside, not even all of Beantown shares that accent, IMHO, let alone all of MA. I do recall that the first time I spoke to a person in Boston/Cambridge (after driving all night with my college friend to find an apt for grad school), I had absolutely no idea what he was saying. It was a service station guy just asking what kind of gas I wanted. LOL
The most fascinating thing about that particular accent is that "r's" are deleted from places they belong, e.g. the proverbial "pahk", govahnah (governor), fiyah (fire), but find their way to places they do not belong....e.g. "pizzer" instead of pizza. Always get a kick out of that.0 -
The Govenor has requested that all cars be off the road at 12:00 noon. At 4:00pm there was a ban on driving with a fine of up to one year in jail for those still in thier cars. All businesses have been asked to close or the police will close them. Shelters have been opened.
We may need you Eric! But I hope not
I would like to add my condolences to you and your family
There are power outages expected and snowthunders.
I think that I will go to sleep and hope it all goes away.
I have my poached salmon thanks to seaside and Nance.
The kitties are not even trying to go outside, which is very unusual for them
0
